Published February 16, 2022 | Version v1
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Experimental evidence for long-distance electrodynamic intermolecular forces

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Both classical and quantum electrodynamics predict the existence of dipole-dipole long-range electrodynamic intermolecular forces; however, these have never been hitherto experimentally observed. The discovery of completely new and unanticipated forces acting between biomolecules could have considerable impact on our understanding of the dynamics and functioning of the molecular  machines at work in living organisms. Here, using two independent experiments, on the basis of different physical effects detected by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy and terahertz spectroscopy, respectively, we demonstrate experimentally the activation of resonant electrodynamic intermolecular forces. This is an unprecedented experimental proof of principle of a physical phenomenon that, having been observed for biomacromolecules and with long-range action (up to 1000 A˚ ), could be of importance for biology. In addition to thermal fluctuations that drive molecular motion randomly, these resonant (and thus selective) electrodynamic forces may contribute to molecular encounters in the crowded cellular space.

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Journal article: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35171677/ (URL)

Funding

Agence Nationale de la Recherche
NUMEV - Digital and Hardware Solutions and Modeling for the Environement and Life Sciences ANR-10-LABX-0020
European Commission
TeraApps - Doctoral Training Network in Terahertz Technologies for Imaging, Radar and Communication Applications 765426
Agence Nationale de la Recherche
France-BioImaging - Développment d'une infrastructure française distribuée coordonnée ANR-10-INBS-0004
European Commission
TOPDRIM - Topology driven methods for complex systems 318121
European Commission
LINkS - Long-range electrodynamic INteractions between proteinS 964203